July Chapter Meeting Minutes
Call to Order
Wanda called to order the monthly meeting of the North Canton Indian Motorcycle Group at 7:07 pm.
Video – We watched a very enjoyable video on Bagger Myths, focusing on the performance that all of us know is there.
Attendance
Ten members and officers were present.
Old Business
Record turnout for Demo Days; several new members joining the chapter; we’ve now raised nearly $1,000 for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Jeana also thanked the chapter for its support of the event and all of the volunteers for making her job easier.
National IMRG June meeting cancelled. July meeting is on the 20th. Wanda is hoping to get timing on the Traveling IMRG Box. She found out there is a journal in the box; part of our contribution will be all chapter presidents writing something in the journal.
New Business
President’s Update – Wanda
Four IMRG chapters in southern California have organized a regional ride and issued invitations to all chapters. The event is “2021 Cruizin’ SoCal,” and is October 7th-10th. The flyer is in the service area if anyone is headed out west. We will not attend as a chapter due to our ride schedule.
Wanda announced the reservation for our Holiday Party in December. It will be at Canal Grille in Canal Fulton on Saturday, December 11th at 6:30 pm.
Membership Update - Chris Weisbgarber
Membership – We have had 8 new members as a result of our table at Demo Days!
Communication Update – Maria for Kevin
65% increase in website traffic. Popular area are new shirts and record turnout at Demo Days
Facebook traffic has also picked up. People reacting to photos of the rides and commenting.
Reminder to officers to provide newsletter content by this weekend.
Safety and Ride Review – Tom Johnson
Tom reiterated the importance of pointing out road problems, debris, etc. and pass all signals all the way from front to back. We’re having greater turnouts on our rides. With a lot of bikes, if signals get lost in the middle of the pack, the bikes at the back don’t know what’s coming.
Saturday 6/12/21 – Impromptu FUGAWI (Wanda led, John swept)
3 bikes
Lunch – Chatterbox Tavern in McConnelsville
What did we do well? Good roads, served as partial pre-ride for Ohio’s Best Roads
How could we have done it better? Have a destination. Low turnout indicates a destination is preferred.
Thursday 6/17/21 – Blue Ridge Parkway (Kevin led)
4 bikes
4 days, 3 Nights
What did we do well? Nice easy trip down. Nice ride through the mountains. Lunch at the top at The Den. Trip home was good. Might do it again next year.
How could we have done it better? Really hot. Too much traffic on the Tail of the Dragon
Saturday 6/25/21 – Lima Flat Track Race trip (Rob Gaddis led)
4 bikes
Stayed in Wapakoneta and enjoyed free race tickets courtesy of IMRG
What did we do well? Thank you IMRG for the tickets. Took lots of back roads to get there. Race turnout was really good. Indian swept it. Briar Bauman won the main event. Johnny Lewis won Royal Enfield race on a 650.
How could we have done it better? Very hot day. A lot of new rule changes are coming to make Indian less competitive.
Saturday 7/10/21 Ohio’s Best Roads (Wanda led, Tom swept)
13 bikes
Lunch – Boondocks BBQ & Grill in McConnelsville
What did we do well? Good choice of roads.
How could we have done it better? Some dirt and gravel got a couple people in trouble in a sharp bend ending in a steep uphill. Speed was not a factor as we were going slower due to fresh asphalt and potential for fresh oil. Due to the layout of the bends in this section, only one or two bikes were in each other’s sights at a time. That means that they were unable to communicate the issue back due to a small gap in the pack. This prompted our discussion of how to handle communication of road hazards in tight bends. One flaw of our use of Bluetooth coms is that they have a line of site connection, so communication is lost between lead and sweep in really twisty roads. Another person in the middle of the pack on a com would help. It’s also very important to ride your ride. Clay pointed out it can be safer to use your feet to kick out to point so you can keep your hands on the grips. Wanda pointed out that anyone can get into trouble on any road, even at slower speeds if you don’t see the hazard. Consensus was to again place more emphasis in the pre-ride on keeping sight of the bike behind you and passing back all signals.
Upcoming rides –
Saturday 7/17/21 – Mentor HeadlandS Beach
Sunday 7/25/21 – Horse Apple Highway
Saturday 7/31/21 – Triple Nickel
Friday 8/13/21-Sunday 8/15/21 - Play in PA
Ride was on pdf schedule (originally for King of the Baggers race). Kept on schedule when race was cancelled. Wanda passed out itinerary. Full information is on the website.
Many great sites for Saturday’s ride including Kinzua Bridge State Park, PA’s Grand Canyon and Elk Country
Bair’s News
Clay advised model year change over is being pushed back to 4th quarter or 1st quarter of 2022. Jeana thanked everyone who helped out at the demo rides and reported all went well.
Wanda specifically thanked Kevin and Maria for getting info out about the ride date change for Ohio’s Best Roads Ride.
Announcements – important upcoming dates – Wanda
Rob Gaddis provided info on AMA Vintage Days on July 24th in Ashland. $40 admission with big swap meet and flat track race with vintage bikes. Annual 4-Cycle event is August 14th at Tiffin.
Maria recommended the new movie Black Widow for its inclusion of a Scout in one scene.
Adjournment
Wanda adjourned the meeting at 8:08 pm. Next meeting is Monday, August 2nd at Bair’s.
